In many machines and systems, rotational movements occur between individual components and subassemblies which should be detected during operation of the respective machine. Motor vehicles, for example all-terrain motor vehicles, trucks, buses, or other automobiles represent examples thereof. For corresponding motor vehicles it can thus be advisable, for example, to detect the current steering angle of one or more steered wheels, wherein these can be both driven and non-driven wheels. But even with non-steered wheels it can possibly be interesting to determine their current orientation with respect to the longitudinal axis of the motor vehicle.
The detected steering angle or—angles of one or more wheels can, for example, also be used in the context of the monitoring, controlling, and/or optionally the regulating of a steering system of the respective motor vehicle, such as, for example, in the context of systems for monitoring and optionally influencing current, dynamic-driving conditions, of which an anti-lock braking system (ABS) and a traction control system (TCS) represent only two examples.
For this purpose it is possible, for example, to determine the particular steering angle directly in the region of the steered wheel or wheels. Thus, for example, WO 2010/055370 A1 describes a device for determining a steering angle of a stub axle bolt or a kingpin of an Ackermann steering system. The device described in WO 2010/055370 A1 represents a relatively large and complex device which possibly even requires an adapting of the stub axle bolts.
But corresponding challenges with respect to the determining of a rotational angle of a reference component relative to an axial direction also occur in other fields of machine-, systems-, and vehicle construction, which challenges are subject to similar constraints.
There is therefore a need to provide a rotational angle sensor which makes possible a simpler and/or smaller construction.